Teru Kurebayashi
Teru Kurebayashi (紅林 照, Kurebayashi Teru) is the 16-year-old main character of Dengeki Daisy, who is a scholarship student at her high school because she can't afford the tuition and the younger sister of Soichiro Kurebayashi, who was an expert computer programmer until his death. Appearance Teru has shoulder-length dark brown hair that is parted to the left side with out grown bangs, which gradually grows longer as the series progresses and hazel eyes. Teru is short (25 cm shorter than Tasuku Kurosaki) and notably proud of her short stature. However, she is somewhat sensitive over the fact that she is relatively flat-chested and does not consider herself to be very attractive. She is particularly conscientious of her femininity, especially as she becomes more aware of her romantic feelings for Kurosaki and she has gradually put more effort into her appearance. Personality Teru is described as strong-willed, "justice-loving", and independent, often not hesitating to participate in her friends' sillier antics. Like her brother, she can be eccentric and enjoys unusual hobbies, such as wanting to pan for gold, paint kokeshi dolls and make odd poses. Because she worries that she will become bothersome or annoying to someone, Teru does not like being dependent on others and does not ask DAISY for help unless it is for someone else's sake. Despite her positive and forthcoming attitude, she is moody and depressed on rainy days, as it reminds her of how it rained on the day her brother died and continued throughout his funeral, and becomes short-tempered and complains more. However, she is usually considerate and respectful towards others. Perceptive and tactful, Teru demonstrates kindness and maturity through the series. She sets aside past grudges and feelings to help others, such as Rena Ichinose and Akira Midorikawa, though Teru is by no means immediately forgiving or a pushover. When bullied, she will retaliate and never cries or backs down from anyone who insults her or her friends. Though she displays maturity and wisely forgives others when she knows the person deserves it, she expresses an naïve and reckless side when she acts without thinking things through. As the series progresses and she is put in more danger, she decides to take lessons from Riko Onizuka and Master Masuda to defend herself and becomes more aggressive towards those who due her or her friends and loved ones harmed. During the series, Teru develops an increasing a sense of self-awareness and reflection towards her own feelings in a situation, understanding that even her negative feelings are valid and should be acknowledged. Background After Soichiro Kurebayashi (Teru's older brother) died, Teru was left only with a cell phone that connects her to DAISY, who becomes Teru's source of encouragement and emotional support and protects her from afar with email messages and occasionally through physical acts. Despite never meeting him face-to-face, Teru has absolute trust in him. When she accidentally breaks a window, Teru is forced to become the "servant" of the school janitor named Tasuku Kurosaki in order to pay it off. As the manga progresses, Teru's once negative feelings towards Kurosaki grow into something more romantic. Despite not having a part time job, she initially lives in a small apartment by herself through her brothers' savings and her phone bill was paid by DAISY. After a break-in incident, she resides at Kurosaki's apartment until she moves in with Riko Onizuka, in an apartment next door to Kurosaki's. Because Teru has lived by herself for some time, she has become a good cook, describing her best dish as meat dumplings, something her brother loved to eat. She seems to like manga as she was shown carrying a box labeled manga as she was moving from her old apartment to Riko's. Since she is poor, she has limited experience with technology, so is initially uncertain with how to use a DVD player or how to play video games. However, she deeply appreciates what she has and developed a habit of keeping whatever she treasures close by, carrying it wherever she goes. Teru's favorite flowers are blue daisies, the same flowers loved by her brother. Relationships Tasuku Kurosaki Teru first met Kurosaki in person when she broke a window at school. In order to pay her debt, she was forced to work for him as a janitor. Even though they bickered constantly over small things, they became friends. Gradually, after many events, Teru discovers that Kurosaki is DAISY, a mysterious aquaintance of her brother who is a former hacker. Kurosaki had been supporting and helping her all along after her brother's death from cancer as DAISY. Now that Teru found out the identity of her beloved DAISY, she became closer to Kurosaki and realises her romantic feelings for him. Kurosaki finds that Teru is the only person who can make him think of the happy aspects of the past that he feels guilty of. Despite his unpleasant attitude, he cares deeply for Teru, acting toward her with genuine kindness, and is extremely protective of her. Whilst it is evident that Kurosaki returns Teru's feelings, he sometimes feels embarassed when his friends tease him by calling him a pervert or lolicon because of their age difference. Riko Onizuka Riko thinks of Teru as a little sister and cares deeply for her, especially because she and Teru's older brother, Soichiro, dated until he died. Teru admires Riko and asks her advice and help whenever she's facing a hard time. However, due to Riko being overprotective of Teru, she tends to keep an eye on Kurosaki and will beat him up whenever something relating to him or DAISY causes Teru to cry. Kiyoshi Hasegawa Kiyoshi is Teru's best friend and a classmate, as well as scholarship student. They have been friends since primary school. For Teru's sake, he risked their friendship in hopes of finding a supposedly unreleased software that many speculated that Teru's brother had concealed in Teru's phone. The attempt nearly costs Kiyoshi his life and he believes that his friendship with Teru is permanently damaged; however, he is deeply grateful to learn that his friends still care for him as much as ever. After the incident, Kiyoshi is the first of Teru's friends to learn that Kurosaki is the hacker DAISY. As such, he is often trusted with privileged information relating to Kurosaki's activities as DAISY. His relationship with Teru is very strong and they are unafraid to resort to physical violence to bring each other to their senses if necessary. Soichiro Kurebayashi Soichiro is Teru's deceased brother. However, he is regularly shown in flashbacks and is an important character in that his actions have led to many important events in the story. When Teru was young, the siblings parents died and Soichiro took care of her. Teru was close to her brother despite him being significantly older than her. He has been alternately shown as comically affectionate towards his sister and those he cares about to being serious and empathetic. Rena Ichinose The student council president was introduced as a bully to scholarship students like Teru and Kiyoshi. However, when Teru and Kurosaki saved her after she was in trouble in one of her relationships, she begins to show another side. With Teru's kindness, she gradually stops bullying and entering bad relationships. Though Rena does not admit it, Teru becomes one of her first true friends, and she indirectly tries to help Teru develop her relationship with Kurosaki. Haruka Sawaguchi Haruka is one of Teru's closest friends and the first person she confides with when she discovers the true identity of DAISY. Haruka supports Teru and her relationship with Kurosaki and is generally there to help out or brainstorm ideas. Gallery Teru Kurebayashi/Gallery Trivia * The name Teru means "brilliant, shine, illumination" in Japanese. * Teru's surname Kurebayashi means "crimson color" (紅) and "woods" (as in forest) (林). It can also mean "Crimson woods" or "Red Forest" (紅林). * In chapter 48, Teru's name appears as "Telu" on the GPS system Kazumasa Andou and Tasuku Kurosaki use to track her. Whether this is a translating error on the author's behalf, it is yet to be confirmed. * The pronunciation of Teru's name in Japanese resembles the pronunciation of "tel" (a common abbreviation of "telephone") due to the linguistic approximation of "r" and "l" as the same sound in Japanese and the lack of coda consonants in Japanese. * Teru has a funny sneeze that sounds like a balloon popping. * Her birthday is on August 18th.Her zodiac sign is Leo. References Category:Characters Category:Female Characters